A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates in general to a gaming device, and more particularly to a gaming device having a multi-characteristic matching game.
Gaming devices such as slot machines, video poker machines, blackjack machines and keno machines are well-known. Slot and other machines having primary and secondary or bonus games or schemes are also well known. Such gaming devices have schemes in which a player has one or more opportunities to place wagers and interact with the gaming device. Since players continue to seek more entertainment and enjoyment from different types of gaming devices, it is desirable to provide players with gaming devices with new game schemes where the players have an opportunity to receive winning payouts and are entertained at the same time.
The present invention provides a gaming device having a multi-characteristic matching game scheme. The multi-characteristic matching game scheme of the present invention can be employed as a primary or secondary or bonus game in a gaming device. The gaming device provides a base and a plurality of selections. The base and each of the selections include a plurality of characteristics. To play the game, the player selects at least one selection that has at least one characteristic that matches (i.e., that is the same as, that is equal to or that is equivalent to) one of the characteristics of the base. The game continues as long as the player continues to match characteristics between one of the selections and the base. If the player is unable to make a match, the game terminates or alternatively replaces the selection with new selections. The gaming device provides the player an award based on the number of matches and/or values associated with the matches.
Alternative embodiments of the present invention include providing multiple bases, providing awards associated with different numbers of matches or different ranges of numbers of matches, providing award values for each match, masking selections and having a varying number of characteristics, selections and bases.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, one or more of the selections could have multi-part characteristics and/or could have functional elements. Multi-part characteristics could match more than one or multiple different characteristics similar to the function of a wild card. Functional elements of selections could perform actions such as, but not limited to, changing one or more characteristics of the base, changing one or more of the selections or characteristics of the selections, adding another base, eliminating a selection, etc.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a selection could reveal associated selections such as selections that the first selection was blocking or overlaying. Such associated selections may have none, some or all of such selection""s characteristics revealed to the player while it was blocked. This would enable the player to strategically select the selection that would unblock or make available a desired selection.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the selection could be masked and revealed as they are selected. If the chosen selection has a characteristic matching one of the characteristics of the base, it is matched to (or replaces) the base, otherwise the revealed selection is a miss. In this embodiment, a defined number of misses would end the game.
It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide a gaming device having a multi-characteristic matching primary game scheme.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a gaming device having a multi-characteristic matching secondary game scheme.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.